NYPD: Down with officers, up with K-9s

The department has slashed the number of officers by 17% over the past 12 years, but its force of crimefighting canines has nearly doubled

BY Reuven Blau
New York Daily News

NEW YORK — The NYPD is going to the dogs. The department has slashed the number of officers by 17% over the past 12 years, but its force of crimefighting canines has nearly doubled over that same period.

“The K-9 units have expanded, especially over the last five years or so, and there are no plans to stop that,” said police spokesman Detective Martin Speechley.

More than 100 dogs now work in the Transit Bureau, narcotics, the bomb squad and Emergency Service Unit, according to sources. That’s up from about 60 a decade ago. The growing furry force is part of a larger law-enforcement trend nationwide and in the military.